Abstract: We have measured the beta-decay half-lives of 16 neutron-deficient nuclei with T-z = -1/2 and -1, ranging from chromium to germanium. They were produced in an experiment carried out at GANIL and optimized for the production of Zn-58, for which in addition we present the decay scheme and absolute Fermi and Gamow-Teller transition strengths. Since all of these nuclei lie on the rp-process pathway, the T-1/2 values are important ingredients for the rp-process reaction flow calculations and for models of X-ray bursters.

Abstract: In this paper we evaluate sources of background of the gamma p -> omega p reaction, with the omega detected through its pi(0)gamma decay channel, to compare with the experiment carried out at ELSA. We find background from gamma p -> pi(0)pi(0)p followed by decay of a pi(0) into two gamma, recombining one pi(0) and one gamma, and from the gamma p -> pi(0)eta p reaction with subsequent decay of the eta into two photons. This background accounts for the data at pi(0)gamma invariant masses beyond 700 MeV, but strength is missing at lower invariant masses which was attributed to photon misidentification events, which we simulate to get a good reproduction of the experimental background. Once this is done, we perform an event mixing simulation to reproduce the calculated background and we find that the method provides a good description of the background. A closer look reveals this is accidental. We show that the mixed event generated background in the region of the omega mass and beyond is completely tied to the events at low pi(0)gamma invariant masses where the d sigma/dM(pi 0 gamma) distribution is much larger. This has as a consequence that the mixed event method produces the same background at high invariant masses independently of the actual background in that region, as a consequence of which, the method is unsuited to give the background at energies around the peak of the omega and beyond.

Abstract: The appearance of some papers dealing with the K(-)d -> pi Sigma n reaction, with some discrepancies in the results and a proposal to measure the reaction at forward n angles at J-PARC justifies to retake the theoretical study of this reaction. We do this in the present paper showing results using the Watson approach and the truncated Faddeev approach. We argue that the Watson approach is more suitable to study the reaction because it takes into account the potential energy of the nucleons forming the deuteron, which is neglected in the truncated Faddeev approach. The paper shows the strength and limitations of both approaches and we perform calculations using four different approximations. Comparison of the results shows that the truncated Faddeev approach produces a strong asymmetry between the energy of the two nucleons of the deuteron, while in the Watson approach this energy is equally shared. From the experimental point of view the results are very valuable since they show that the different approximations share the feature that the peak of the pi Sigma mass distribution is drastically shifted in the presence of the Lambda(1405). Additionally, we also show that in the angle-integrated cross section the threshold cusp effects are basically washed away and all approximations show a clear shape of the Lambda(1405). In this sense, measurements of all these magnitudes in different K- energies are bound to bring new information that sheds new light on the properties and nature of the Lambda(1405) resonance.